Nazi Impact on a German Village

Authors: Walter Rinderle and Bernard Norling

University of Kentucky Press,1992

Nazi Impact on a German Village presents the viewpoint of "ordinary
people" before, during and after the Nazi rise to power. It is a viewpoint
often overlooked by historians. The book is about more than one village. It
offers an accurate perspective on the whole of Germany in the 20th century,
on Hitler's success and failure in attracting support, and on denazification
after World War II.

The book was written as a story rather than as professorial arguments. It
is filled with everyday life and human nature – and a product of superb scholarship.

For five years, while doing graduate work before attending the University
of Notre Dame, Walter Rinderle lived around the village of Obershopfheim, the
village that, with Germany in general, is the subject of this book. He is now
an adjunct professor of humanities and social science at Vincennes University
in Indiana. His companion author is Bernard Norling, professor emeritus of European
history at the University of Notre Dame.

This book has not received the attention that it deserves. If someone wants
to read any book on history, this is the book I would recommend. Read more about
the book at
Amazon.com Books As of today, December 8, 2001, all readers commenting on
the book at Amazon.com have given it the highest rating – five stars.

Here are a typical comments added to the book's focus on Obershopfheim:

Much of the Nazi organizational superiority came from the high proportion
of war veterans in their ranks. These men had grown accustomed to organization
during the Great War, had become disciplined, and had learned the irrelevancy
of rank or title at the front when issues of life and death were at stake.

...the Nazis developed real expertise in the manipulation of violence. Too
little of it, they realized, wold be ineffective. Too much would scare off many
of their supporters and would bring down upon them the wrath of the national
government.